Through His Eyes…

James 2:1-13 (NLT)

For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. 3 If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, 4 doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives? (James 2:2-4 NLT)

How often have I stopped at an intersection because of a red light and seen a panhandler working the intersection looking for “donations” to his/her cause and gone into “lockdown” mode – locking the car doors and looking straight ahead daring NOT to look them in the eyes? It has happened often. Yet as I read this passage today, that’s the first picture I got. The second picture I got – immediately behind the first – is the same intersection but Firemen working the intersection looking for a donation to his/her cause. In this scenario, I react totally opposite. If I have loose change, I give it to them. I always smile and wave at the fireman, even if I don’t have anything to give.

Why? Exactly this verse. I am judging the person by their exterior. Yes, our culture today and often the intersections have something to do with how “safe” I feel for me and my family, but if I’m honest, it is no different than James 2:2-4.

It’s not just with such drastic differences either. I know myself. It is just as easy for me to show favoritism (a really nice way of saying ‘being prejudice’ or judging) to those ‘of significance.’ For example, given the opportunity to meet Stephen Curtis Chapman or the dude on the 3rd row of the 2nd service at church, guess where my attention is going to be?

Is the fireman any different than the beggar in the eyes of God? Is Stephen Curtis Chapman any better than the guy at church in the eyes of God? Am I any different or any better than any of them in the eyes of God?

Nope. Actually, the answer is a resounding ‘NO!’

It goes on an on. It could just as easily relate to those with whom we have a common interest versus those we don’t; those who are easy to get along with versus those it is a struggle to have conversation with; those who are obnoxious versus those who are fun; boring versus exciting; pretty versus ugly; it really doesn’t matter in God’s eyes.

His eyes – His vision – His perspective is the only one that counts. It’s the only thing that matters. James 2:5-14 go on to make that exact point. We are all sinners. We have all broken His law. We have all fallen short of His glory (Romans 3:23).

James 2:14-26

Originally, I thought this was unrelated, but it is not. My actions (my deeds) define my faith. If I have no deeds, I have no faith because it is dead. A dead faith is not a faith at all. Faith – true, living, vibrant faith in God – produces actions/deeds that are driven by my faith. I don’t choose the action, I just choose to be obedient to God’s directive. This is the example of Abraham placing Issac on the altar. God directed his actions and because of his faith, he obeyed.

I know people who let their actions drive their faith. It a natural extension of their ‘religion’. Actions do not create faith. Faith isn’t motivated by actions. Faith isn’t driven or created by actions / deeds / “do and don’t” commands. This kind of faith is a Works-Based faith, which the Lord clearly speaks about in Romans 4:1-5 (The Message):

So how do we fit what we know of Abraham, our first father in the faith, into this new way of looking at things? If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we’re given is a God-story, not an Abraham-story. What we read in Scripture is, “Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own. If you’re a hard worker and do a good job, you deserve your pay; we don’t call your wages a gift. But if you see that the job is too big for you, that it’s something only God can do, and you trust him to do it—you could never do it for yourself no matter how hard and long you worked—well, that trusting-him-to-do-it is what gets you set right with God, by God. Sheer gift.

The deception in that kind of thinking – that kind of ‘religion’ – is that instead of actions being directed BY God, they are directed AT God. Minor words… MAJOR difference!

How I view others is just one “deed” that needs to change.

Dad, today let me see others through Your eyes, Your perspective today. Destroy the preconceived ideas I have about people that color my vision and skew my attitudes towards them. Replace them with your perfect love today. In that perfect love, drive my actions to those things that bring you Glory. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Deception abounds

James 1; Romans 14

Romans 14:12-15:6 talks about what one person does (or doesn’t do) to honor the Lord vs. what another person does or doesn’t do. We shouldn’t judge the actions of another because we are “more spiritually mature” than they are.

[It would be interesting to continue down this thought and compare it to “let the little children come unto me” – something I may do in the near future.]

We are to live our lives in a way that doesn’t make another stumble. Being aware of how our actions could affect another person’s walk is the marching order given. The deception comes when we are concerned about what another person thinks.

Hebrews 10:24 (NIV) 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

James 1:7-8 (NLT) references those people who ask God, but their faith isn’t completely in God alone. The deception referenced in v7-8 is that of expectations. The expectation that God is a genie and will give me what I ask, period; that I can control God – to some degree. Verse 8 says “Their loyalty is divided between God and the world…” and goes on to describe their instability in EVERYTHING THEY DO.

I am becoming a firm believer in uncovering any deception I may believe… asking Father to reveal anything that I believe that is not in line with His Word and His Truth.

New Clothes

James 4:1-4 (NIV) What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

OK. The Lord must be trying to get my attention. This is the third day in a row where the word desire (that which conceives temptation – James 1) is highlighted. I’m guessing this is important. As I’ve postulated, what I desire is based on what I believe, which is where the enemy can deceive me – by “misinformation” of what is good, right, and scriptural.

James 1 warns that desire leads to temptation. James 4 tells us it will do more than that. It will lead to quarrels and fights; coveting; stealing; murder – those are all from verse 2. Verse 3 says it can lead to our own pride and a dismissing of God for provision for aide, for whatever we need, or that we’ll try to manipulate God to give us what we “want” under the guise of something else. Wow! Talk about being deceived… to think that we can outsmart the One who created us! How foolish is that! Verse 4 says that we will befriend the world – the creation – in lieu of the Creator.  And in God’s deal, you can’t be friends to both… We  are called to stand on one side or the other.  We can’t sit on the fence.  We’re either for God or againt Him.  That’s not a decision I want to make in the midst of being deceived… in the midst of unholy desires.

Deception, desires… bad stuff.

By no accident (thank you Lord) I also read Romans 13 today in my attempt to continue in Romans. Check out the this verse. Here is the antidote to errant desires.

Rom 13:14 (ESV) But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

What the ESV translates as “put on” literally means to clothe myself in Jesus Christ. My question then becomes… what does that look like? How do I clothe myself in Christ? By living out Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.“

Daddy, I die to myself today.  I die to my desire.  I die to everything I “think”.  I die to my flesh, my mind, my soul.  I ask you to take control and live today for me.  Put my flesh on like a suit and walk around in me today so that those around me see, feel, and hear Jesus, not Bryan.  In Jesus’ Name, let it be.

Teacher Beware

James 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

In my last post, I said that deception starts in the mind. Deception is believing something that is errant to the Word of God. When the devil tempted Jesus, he used scripture. When the serpent led Eve into deception, he twisted – just ever so slightly – the word spoken by God.

No wonder James warns those who teach! How important it is to teach absolute truth that is 100% in line with what the Word teaches, else those being taught could believe something not exactly lined up with Scripture and the teacher could lead them in to deception.

Dad, I pray that anything I ever teach anyone, my kids, others around me, whomever you put in my sphere of influence – my prayer is that my teaching is based soley on Your Word, Your thoughts and none of my own.

Do not be deceived…

I recently heard a teaching on deception that has been rattling around in my head for a while. No one is disqualified from the opportunity to be deceived. The first deception was Eve. The key I took from the teaching was that prior to her conversation with the serpent, Eve was perfect, flawless, and sinless… yet, she was able to have deception presented to her.

Even Jesus had deception presented to him when he was in the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by the devil.

Deception starts in the mind. Which brings me to today’s scripture.

How do you read the following passage?

James 1:12-18 (ESV)
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Where do you put v16? When I memorized this chapter, and even in reading it, I have always associated verse 16 as the intro into verse 17. “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above…“

Last night it hit me. What if verse 16 is the concluding thought of verses 12-15? That totally changes the way it reads. The word tempted is pierazo which implies an aspect of testing what one thinks. The word desire in verse 15 is a synonym for the word pathos which means an affliction of the mind.

If deception starts in the mind by believing something not in line with the Word of God, then wouldn’t that lead to a basis on which I could fall to temptation?

2 Cor 10:4-5 (Amplified)
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, 5 [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One),

Every thought captive… that would ensure we are not deceived, which keeps us from falling to temptation.

What does it look like to take every thought captive?

Running After Papa…

Running After Papa

Expecting the unexpected

Isaiah 55:6-9 (ESV)

6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

This morning I woke up with a word from the Lord. “Expect the unexpected.” I’ve been praying about what that means and what it pertains to, whether it is a word for me, for our family, or a word about the upcoming Quest. It’s not a warning of impending doom or some omnious caution, but an exhortation to keep my (our) eyes open and my ears attentive to Him.  He will work and He will work however He wants to work… I can’t look for him to show up only how I expect him to or to work in my life in one and only one way, for “as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts,” declares the Lord.

Thank you Lord that you are not predicable and that you are not limited by me.  Help me Lord to be attentive to your word and be ready to serve you in a moments notice.

Two Random Thoughts

Two random thoughts.

1.  Papa has overwhelmed me the last few days with his unending love for me.

2.  Our dog, Toby

I don’t know where this is going, but I’m journaling it anyway.  This will be a weird one I can tell but I can’t wait to see where it ends up when I’m done.

Over the weekend, Father overwhelmed me with his love for me in a very awesome way.  The story is much too long for this blog, but just suffice to say, he answered a very specific prayer in a very specific way.  In the midst of it, I heard him tell me how much he loved me and it just moved me to tears.  I am so grateful for his love, even if he never does another thing for me as long as I live.

We have a dog, Toby.  He’s small enough that he can – and does – make a perch at the top of the couch in the big overstuffed cushions.  He will lay there all day long, doing nothing and minding his own business.  I noticed today that every time I walked past him (perhaps 8 or 10 times throughout the day), I would just reach down and scratch the scruff of his neck or scratch his belly or something.  I noticed that it was just comforting and therapeutic to just pet the dog.

After I realized what I was doing and how often I was doing that, I felt Papa ask me, “Are you [spiritually] as warm and inviting to others as Toby is to  you?”  “Were you [spiritually] a dog, would other people want to cuddle you and scratch you behind the ears?”

The overwhelming feeling I felt earlier this weekend of God’s unbelievable love for me, is the same feeling God wants me to pass along to those who come in my path.  He wants me to love on others the way he loves on me.  He wants me to bring comfort  to others the way he comforts me.  As He pours into me, I am to overflow to others.  2 Corinthians 1:3-7 (ESV)

Now I will always have a visual aide in my walk… our dog, Toby, lying on the top of the sofa.

There are so many pictures that paints, but that will be another post.

Papa, thank you for your love.  Thank you for your overwhelming presence and goodness.  Help me love others the way you love me.  Help me comfort others the way you comfort me.  Every time I scratch the dog, remind me of how you want me to represent you.  I love you more every day.

A checklist for living

Romans 12:9-18 (Various translations)

As I read, and re-read, and re-read, and looked at the Greek meanings of some of the words, I kept hearing “I put this stuff here for a reason… read it… learn it… live it.”  So given that, I’m going to take different phrases from different translations to make a “checklist” of sorts on the how we are to live this life with each other.

  • Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. (The Message)
  • Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. (NKJV)
  • Love one another with brotherly affection (ESV)
  • Outdo one another in showing honor (ESV) / Practice playing second fiddle (The Message)
  • Never be lazy but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically (NLT)
  • Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (ESV)
  • When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. (NLT)
  • Be inventive in hospitality. (The Message)
  • Bless those who persecute you [who are cruel in their attitude toward you] (The Amplified Bible)
  • no cursing under your breath (The Message)
  • Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. (ESV)
  • Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody. (The Message)
  • Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is honest and proper and noble [aiming to be above reproach] in the sight of everyone. (The Amplified Bible)
  • If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (NIV)

What else really needs to be said except I have a REALLY long way to go…  Some of these I’m doing OK in.  Some of these – you would think – I’ve never seen before.  It’s a love/hate thing.  I love when these lists are put in there for us to grow into and I hate seeing how far short I fall.  Thank you Lord that you love me anyway and that I can’t do any of it on my own.  All I can do is surrender and allow Him to live these things through me (Gal 2:20).

My measure of faith…

Romans 12:3 (ESV) For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

It’s interesting to read this verse. For several months, the Lord has been swatting me like I swat my dog with a newspaper. He get’s my attention every time I say something derogatory or “down” on anyone – particularly those that SOME might call “idiots” or “in-bred morons” – as my earthly father likes to say. Any time I have a thought about the stupidity or aloofness of someone else, Papa get’s my attention and asks me a very serious question. “Do you think you’re any better?”

In stupidity, I used to answer “Well.. yeah… blah blah blah!”  Where I would wax poetics about all the stuff I do for Him – like He doesn’t see or hear or know already.  I’d tell him about how much I love and serve Him, my wife, my family, blah, blah, blah.  But thankfully, He didn’t just zap me and put me out of my misery, instead he reminds me of Isaiah 64:6 “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…”  It’s a pretty effective tool to be reminded that Papa is SO HOLY that no matter what awesome things I do, I’m bringing soiled feminine products to Him as a gift.

This all started with the reading of a book that totally changed the way I think and outside of the Holy Bible, has impacted me more than any other book I’ve ever read. Humility by Andrew Murray is that book. That book has forced me to reconsider who I am and who He is. In the light of Him – which, by the way, is the only true measurement – I am nothing and I am no better than anyone else. Jesus loves everyone else just as much as He loves me. Every one of us are His favorite.

This verse is a great reminder of that truth, that I need to remember. I love the way Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message.

I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him. (Romans 12:3, The Message)

It’s all about Him. It ain’t about me. The part I don’t understand is the last sentence of the ESV version. “…but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” What is that about? How I view myself – how soberly I judge myself – is somehow connected or related to how much faith I have been given? Wow. That’s an interesting thought.

If I’ve been apportioned faith, does that apportionment ever increase or decrease? If so, how? Interesting study this will be…

At the prayer gym…

In light of my post on Dec 13, “Off to the prayer gym…“, today God’s asking me to spend time interceding for the 23 men who are on Day 4 of their prep for the Feb 3-8 Quest on which I will be serving.  So this is all the post you’re going to get from me today… unless Papa drops something on me during my prayer time, in which case, I’ll update this blog.  After my time of intercession, I will update this posting in order to share how the “workout” went, so to speak….